Phone jammers "brought down 777"
WE'VE HEARD of conspiracy theories but this one – taken from the Daily Telegraph – takes the biscuit. Security forces jamming mobile phones around the British Prime Minister's motorcade accidentally disrupted a Boeing 777's control systems.
The claim comes after a British Airways flight from Beijing crashed landed as it was attempting to set down at London's Heathrow Airport.
By an amazing co-incidence – or was it? – the stricken aircraft flew only about 25 feet above Gordon Brown's Jaguar as it headed towards the airport along the Heathrow perimeter road.
One suggested theory is that – in an effort to protect Mr Brown – the police might have turned on phone jamming equipment.
The INQ has long argued that mobile phones don't affect the operation of an aircraft in the first place but these phone jammers would have had to possess a range of at least two miles because that is how far away the plane was when both its engines failed.
Even the Torygraph's own expert, John Ling, the head of transport at
the Institution of Mechanical Engineers, dismissed the theory.
"I am sure other people would have noticed and more than one plane would have
come down," commented Mr Ling.
Still, we wouldn't want a few facts to get in the way of a jolly good conspiracy theory, now would we?
More on this story here. µ
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According to my Friend who is a flight attendant, the real reason they don't want you to use your cell phone on the plane is because it wrecks havoc on the cell towers.
Something about you jump in and out of many towers much to fast and the towers dont like that.

This is what she claims the Airline told her anyhow.
Adds some credence to the phone jammer conspiracy...

http://www.news.com.au/travel/story/0,26058,23083028-5009000,00.html
What copnspiracy?!

Any pilot will tell you that any landing you can walk away from is a good landing.
Believe me, as a commercial pilot, this is the first time I heard of this theory that cell phones on-board breaking cell towers :)

The international policy to switch of mobile phones when on-board airplanes has nothing to do to protect cell towers but is all about protecting the navigation, communications and electrical control systems on-board airplanes and therefore protecting the airplanes and the passengers.

And still, nobody has yet been able to prove a connection between cell phones and disruption of any systems inside airplanes. It's done as a precaution to prevent any possible interference.

Funny, the engines lost control 2 miles from the airport. It was only so high over the jammers well after it lost power and would not have been so close if the engines were normal before that.

As for the cell phones, as the FA told Jay_III and it can interfer with onboard systems. Don't believe a cell phone can potentially cause issues? Power one up next to your monitor and speakers some time. Noisy bugger. And since airplanes cannot coast to a stop on the side of the road when something quits working, which side of caution would you prefer to err on?
Ultie Figured it OUT. Hon Brown Esq Dosn't Like Triple Sevens. Got Number? 7. No Coinq I'm Sure.

1.01 is more than 1 so 2 in distance description with exact communication path narrow, yet Auto with Jamming equip traveled mere 800 feet during event, much narrower than runway.

Fantastic power of tower radio just pulled light weight jamming signal right into system & itshut it Down.Like too much LSD, SHUTDOWN from intense confusion inside signal.

Always Buy 787 w/ULTIMATE, NOT Old 777.
thomas s von drashek
shh - now all the terrorists now know that they only have to turn on their mobile phone to take down the planes
It's because they interfere with the ancient VOR navigation transmitters. The other quoted reasons are either FUD or "playing it safe".
<quote>1.01 is more than 1 so 2 in distance description with exact communication path narrow, </quote>


ummmm. my point exactly.
Under European law, to which all airports, hospitals, establishments AND DEVICES (please note) have to conform (NO exceptions), You cannot manufacture, import or use Any device which interferes with any form of radio communication. Now the killer bit. It is an offence in law to use or sell any device WHICH IS CAPABLE OF BEING INTERFERED WITH! Medical uses were given a period of grace (as body scanners etc can - allegedly - be interfered with) but, this period of grace ended in the late 1990s. NO EXCEPTIONS. Therefore, any aircraft which relies on interferable equipment is outside the law if operated in Europe. Don't believe me? Look it up. It all came in when computers were forced to be tested for interference and the law doesn't just apply to computers or computer driven equipment.